New judgeships created for burgeoning Justice Court

Greg Tuttle

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000 | 9:21 a.m.

Two years ago the average workload for a judge in a Las Vegas Valley Justice Court was about 8,000 cases a year. That workload today has nearly doubled, with a Justice Court judge hearing about 15,000 cases.

In an effort to ease the workload, the Clark County Commission has created two new justice of the peace positions that voters will fill from a field of nine candidates. Six have filed for the eighth judicial position at the Las Vegas Township, and three aspiring judges are seeking a second judgeship created at the North Las Vegas Township.

Because the judicial positions are nonpartisan, the top two vote-getters for each of the two contested seats will move on to the Nov. 7 general election.

Five other Justice Court judges in the Las Vegas Valley are running unopposed.

A justice of the peace has jurisdiction over a wide range of cases, from misdemeanor crimes to traffic infractions. The Justice Court judges preside over small claims actions up to $5,000, and civil claims up to $7,500. The judges also hear landlord and tenant disputes and issue orders in cases involving harassment and stalking.

A justice of the peace also presides at the early stages of a criminal case during the initial arraignment and preliminary hearing for defendants facing gross misdemeanor or felony charges. Defendants are formally informed of the charges against them at arraignments, and preliminary hearings are held to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed.

A justice of the peace is elected to a six-year term. Justices of the peace in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson currently earn $90,000 a year, but the salary will increase to $99,000 beginning next year. In Boulder City, the justice of the peace earns $26,900.

Here is a rundown of the candidates for justice of the peace in the Las Vegas Valley:

LV Township, Dept. 1

LV Township, Dept. 2

LV Township, Dept. 5

LV Township, Dept. 8

NLV Township, Dept. 1

NLV Township, Dept. 2

Henderson, Dept. 1

Boulder Township